


Casualty

by Meep_Morp



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt No Comfort, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-26
Updated: 2018-09-26
Packaged: 2019-07-17 21:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16104278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Meep_Morp/pseuds/Meep_Morp
Summary: Tony was supposed to be Howard's greatest creation.Greatness came at a cost.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was a little ficlet thing i made for an angst challenge with some friends on Discord. Decided to publish it for others to judge.

What felt like half a lifetime ago, from beyond the grave, Howard Stark had said Tony was his greatest creation.   
  
(He'd said it after imbibing copious amounts of alcohol, but it still counted, right?)   
  
No. Tony had never quite believed it. He  _ couldn't _ believe it. Years upon years of emotional neglect from his father prevented it. He floated in a sea of his own misery, stubbornly ignoring the lifelines cast out to him. He would find the proof of his worth in others, he told himself. In Pepper, and Happy, and hell, even Steve Rogers before that shit hit that particular fan. It was never enough.   
  
And then there was the kid. Peter Parker, who looked at him with wonder and awe and even a little trepidation, who considered Tony larger than life but still saw the human beneath the armor.    
  
He would never, ever, admit this out loud, but it was Parker's wide-eyed admiration which stirred long-dormant feelings within Tony. He'd long ago abandoned the dream of children. He wasn't built for it. He had too much baggage, too much bitterness and unresolved feelings towards his father that becoming a parent in his own right was such a darkly hilarious concept. But then, as if the universe was so desperate to prove him wrong, Peter fell into his life. And everything changed.

  
He wouldn't pretend he was a perfect role model. But Peter was still  _ his _ kid, at least in spirit, and he would be damned if he was going to let him go without a fight.   
  
As it turned out, that was exactly what would happen.   
  
_ "Mr. Stark? I don't feel so good." _   
  
He wasn't sure how long he sat there after the kid vanished. Long enough for Titan's sun to begin to set. He could still feel ash and dust (Peter, that was  _ Peter _ oh God) itching the back of his throat. He held one hand over his mouth, as if terrified that exhaling would blow away the last remnants of his kid.   
  
In Peter, he had seen the future. It was beautiful, and like a fool, he took it for granted.   
  
_ "You are, and always will be, my greatest creation." _   
  
"No, Dad,” he whispered, wet eyes squeezing shut as reality drove its knife deeper and deeper into his soul. "You were wrong."


	2. Chapter 2

The work of the Infinity Stones could only be undone by the stones themselves.   
  
Tony knew this.   
  
Each stone came with its own specific strings attached. Power brought death. Reality brought sickness.    
  
Tony knew that, too. He'd been warned of it. He was prepared.

 

(He wasn’t.)   
  
The Soul Stone was the most integral to the function of the gauntlet. Without it, Thanos could not have completed his genocide. Without it, the devastation could not be undone.   
  
It came with its own special price, too.   
  
It was  _ Thanos _ who had warned Tony about that. "You will not be able to pay it," he'd groaned as Tony pried the gauntlet from his weak grip. 

 

After Titan, after all the loss, the heartbreak, the violence, it wasn't  _ just _ about vengeance. His pursuit of Thanos was about saving everyone. And, privately, to make his father’s vision of him a reality. To lay to rest the ghosts of his past. He wasn’t about to falter now.

 

_ Snap. _   
  
In truth, he hadn't been ready for the Soul World inside the stone. He hadn't been ready to see all the faces of those who had been lost. But he was eased by the knowledge that their suffering would end as he set things right.   
  
One by one, the crowd disappeared, restored back to their homes and loved ones, and Tony felt the tension leave his body as triumph settled in its place.   
  
But there was one person who did not disappear. A boy with a familiar red and blue suit, and warm brown eyes.   
  
Tony smiled. "Hey, kid."   
  
"Mr. Stark?"

 

"Yeah, it's been a while, but it's over now. Time to go home."   
  
"Mr. Stark!" Peter's eyes shone not with tears of joy, but with heartbreak and confusion. "I-I don't understand. Why would you spare me?"   
  
Tony blinked. He frowned. "What?"

 

He reached out for Peter, but his hand met an invisible barrier, denying him what he sought most of all.   
  
Then his world went white and he slammed back to consciousness, stumbling and falling to his knees. The gauntlet was pulsing in his hands, like a heart beating, and with the rhythm he could still hear the kid calling for him.   
  
_ Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! _   
  
He looked into the Soul Stone, and he saw a flicker of brown eyes. Then it was gone, fading back into the jewel’s glittery depths.

 

"What is this?" he demanded of Thanos, whirling around to face the wounded Titan. "TELL ME!"   
  
"In order to wield the Soul Stone," Thanos said, his voice laden with maddeningly genuine sympathy. "You must lose that which you love."   
  
_ Mr. Stark! Where are you? _   
  
This was the price? This was his curse?   
  
_ I'm scared... _   
  
"No. Anything but this," Tony begged, beseeching the gauntlet. "Not like this. God, not like this."

 

Across the cosmos, every living soul that had been banished by the gauntlet was restored to life. All of them, save the one that mattered to Tony most.

 

He could see practically Howard now, standing in front of him, proclaiming that Tony would be great. That he would change the world.

 

_ Did you do it? _ he would ask.  _ Did you make me proud? _

 

_ Yes,  _ Tony would whisper.

 

_ What did it cost?  _ he would then inquire.

 

And Tony would weep.

 

_ Everything. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops?


End file.
